


Comfort

by Ferith12



Series: Brucie Wayne and Family [2]
Category: DCU
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ferith12/pseuds/Ferith12
Summary: Afterwards, Brucie Wayne very firmly refuses to let what happens in this story ruin the circus for him.
Series: Brucie Wayne and Family [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720141
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Comfort

Afterwards, Brucie Wayne very firmly refuses to let what happens in this story ruin the circus for him.

There is a lot of blood.

Brucie missed the wires snapping. One moment he was watching the most amazing performance of grace and athleticism he had ever seen, and the next there is only screaming. And blood. (And two gunshots and a dark alley and he doesn’t know if he should scream for help or run or-- but he’s so afraid and he can’t breathe and he can’t run and he doesn’t scream and)

“That poor kid,” Brucie thinks.

Everyone is running in different directions and Brucie has no idea what’s going on, but somehow he’s down on the ground under the trapeze with the… the corpses. He has a vague idea that people aren’t supposed to just come down here, but that’s not important right now.

What’s important is that the kid’s here too. Brucie doesn’t know how he got down here, certainly not how he managed to get here so fast, last Brucie knew he was up on the platform, ready to jump. But the kid’s here and he’s staring at the bodies, kneeling down like he can’t decide if he dares to touch them, speaking desperately in a language Brucie doesn’t understand.

“Don’t look,” Brucie says. He tries not to look himself. There is  _ so much blood _ , bright and slick under the spotlights. The performers weren’t wearing much in the way of clothing, so there’s nothing to cover it up or soak it in, and it pools over the smooth ground.

“Don’t look,” Brucie says, and puts his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy jumps under Brucie’s touch. He’s shaking.

Brucie is a big man. He’s tall, and muscular because he’s always enjoyed going to the gym. Brucie puts himself between the boy and the bodies, firm and solid, blocking the kid’s view. He shouldn’t look. When the boy remembers his family, he needs to be able to see them alive and amazing, not like this.

The kid starts crying. He wasn’t before. Brucie feels sort of bad about that, but he doesn’t move. Brucie takes off his coat and drapes it over the kid’s shoulders. He has a vague idea that that is a thing you do in these sorts of situations. The kid sort of crumples forwards and then he’s sobbing into Brucie’s shirt. So Brucie’s just sort of standing there holding a crying kid. He doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything, just puts his arms round the kid and hugs him. Brucie doesn’t know when the last time he hugged someone was, a proper feelings-y hug, so he’s not sure if he’s doing it right. He hopes it helps.

Someone must have had the sense to call the police, because now there are sirens and cops are everywhere. Brucie realizes that he’s really not supposed to be here so he hands the kid over to one of the circus people who have sort of gathered around them now. But he scribbles his number on a piece of paper and gives it to the kid, and he also gives his number and his email address to the officer in charge and tells them to call him if they need anything, anything at all. 

(And a few days later Officer Jim Gordon calls him and says that there’s no room for Richard Grayson in the system and some maniacs think the solution to that is to put him in juvie, and one thing leads to another and somehow Brucie has a kid.)


End file.
